Her 'Mistake'
by mk10
Summary: Stella makes the right decision, but somebody feels otherwise. Now, one of her team is going to pay for it.
1. HLT

--I do not own anything to do with CSI:NY

----

Mac arrives at the scene with Danny. Flack approaches them.

"What ya got?"

"We got an anonymous call about an hour ago. They said they heard a gunshot then saw this guy stumble out of the alley and collapse."

Mac looks at the body.

"Young male, about twenty five, single gunshot to the chest."

Hawkes arrives. Mac seems fixated on the body. Hawkes examines it.

"No riger, no discolouration. I'd say he's dead no more than thirty minutes."

Danny speaks up.

"That's not possible. The call was made an hour ago."

Mac stands up and looks around the scene. He notices tire tracks coming from the alley the victim was seen running out of. Flack and Danny search the scene as Hawkes continues examining the body. Mac approaches and shines his torch into the darkness of the alley. He needs a closer look. He enters slowly and stops when he sees a pool of blood on the ground. He kneels down beside it to examine it. WHACK! Somebody hits him from behind, knocking him unconscious.

Outside, Flack and Danny are looking around.

"Mac! Where'd ya go?"

Danny turns to Flack. "I hate it when he does this."

All of a sudden, a black van speeds out of the alley. The tinted window opens and something gets thrown out. The van then speeds off.

"Hey!"

Flack runs over to where the van was seconds ago. Danny checks the alley.

"Mac's gone!"

Flack picks up a card off of the road. He reads from it.

"Ms. Bonasera, Mac Taylor is going to pay for your mistake. You will hear from us. H.L.T."

----

"Oh no." Stella holds the card in her hand. Flack, Danny and Lindsey are standing around her. Flack asks.

"What? Do you know who H.L.T. is?"

"Yes. A few years ago I had a case involving a group who worked for the government called the

H.L.I. – High Level Interrogators."

Danny looks at the card. "But, this says H.L.T."

"A small number of members of H.L.I. were exposed as being too brutal and they were released. They then formed their own underground group. High Level Torturers."

Flack finishes.

"H.L.T. I'm guessing that you're the one who exposed them."

"Yes, I'm afraid so. Oh, god. Now they have Mac."

She puts her head in her hands. Danny rubs her back.

"Hey, we'll get 'em back. Alright?"

Hawkes enters the room with a photograph. He puts it on the table.

"Here's our vic. No one can identify him."

Stella looks at it. "He's one of the former members of H.L.I."

Flack looks confused. "Why would they kill one of their own?"

Danny thinks then speaks up.

"Here's how I see it. This guy makes a call to the cops sayin' he just saw somebody get whacked. Only he didn't. He was waiting for some innocent bystander to walk by and make a move. But, he made the call too early almost blowin' their cover. So, he became the target."

Stella nods. "Yes. They needed a lure for Mac. What about what the card said. "You will hear from us." What do they mean?"

----

He can't see anything. He only knows that he is being dragged somewhere. He feels the blood on the back of his head. He was hit hard and is slightly dazed. He is eventually turned around and thrown onto a chair. He can feel his hands being secured behind him. He can feel the two presences leave. He then notices that he is not wearing any shoes and his jacket has been taken. By the time he establishes this, a person walks in front of him.

"Mac Taylor. I bet you're wondering what you're doing here."

Still unable to see.

"... You could say that."

The figure sits down.

"Stella Bonasera. She caused me and five other hard working citizens to lose their only source of income."

"Oh. I know you. H.P.I. Yeah, sure. If you call hard working citizens torturers who disobey the law."

"I see you share the same views as Ms. Bonasera. That's why we took you. You're the person she's closest to. You're the best way to get revenge. "

He leans closer to Mac.

"She's gonna see everything we do to you."

TBC


	2. The Screen

----

Stella, Lindsey, Hawkes, Flack and Danny are in the lab. Lindsey asks.

"So, where do we start?"

Flack paces the room.

"Well, we examined the body and the scene. No trace or evidence of any kind. Bullet was removed from the vic and no prints on the card. The blood Mac found was our vic's."

Danny finishes. "We got nowhere to go from."

"We took a print of the tire tracks. We're searching for the brand of tire." Lindsey reassures.

Stella nods. "Good. At least it's a start, but we have to work fast. Mac's life is on the line."

They all nod in agreement. Just then, Adam enters the lab quite hurriedly. He has a letter in his hand.

"We just received this. It says urgent." He hands it to Stella. It says 'Ms. Bonasera' on it. She opens it and takes out a piece of paper. 'Turn on your computer.' She hands the note and envelope back to Adam.

"Who delivered it?"

"I don't know. It was just left outside."

"Check for prints."

"I'm on it."

Flack turns on the computer and makes it so that the image is visible on the big screen. They all approach.

'Incoming File.'

All of a sudden a video comes up. A large man stands in front of the camera.

"Turn on your webcam. I want to see your face."

Flack reluctantly does so.

"Ah, a full house. Hello Ms. Bonasera. Remember me?"

"How could I forget? John Phelps, leader of H.L.T. Long time, no see."

He chuckles. "Indeed. All those years of built up hatred finally have the chance to pay off, which is unfortunate for your friend...Mac Taylor."

He side steps to reveal Mac slumped over on the chair. He is awake, but barely. He is blindfolded. The room is quite large, but very dark. There are no windows and no furniture other than the chair Mac is sitting on, a big table against the far wall and some chains connected to the ceiling.

Flack is irate. "I'm gonna kill you!"

He smirks. "I don't think so." He walks close to Mac and leans on his shoulder. Mac flinches. "As I'm sure you've gathered by now, we are very careful. So if you ever want to find Mr. Taylor, you have to watch. That's right Ms. Bonasera. You will feel every one of your friends bones break, every drop of his blood spilt and every ounce of his trust in you leave his body."

He smiles as two men enter the room. "So sit back, get the popcorn going and enjoy the show. I know I will." The two men pick Mac up violently and throw him against the hard wall. They begin to kick him repeatedly in the stomach, keeping him on the ground. Stella can feel her heart break. Flack, Lindsey, Danny and Hawkes can only watch in horror. Eventually, the men stop. John walks slowly to Mac's motionless body. He kneels down.

"Are you still awake, Mr. Taylor?"

He smiles and begins to leave the room.

"...You better believe it."

Danny and Flack are reminded of the time Mac walked out of his court hearing. They feel quite proud of him, but at the same time, know something worse is going to happen.

John stops and turns around. He is pissed off. He leaves the room and comes back with a metal pipe. Stella is shocked. "Oh, no. Mac, look out!"

It's too late. The bar cracks into his ribs. He shouts as his ribcage shatters. The team can feel the crack as if it had just happened to them. The two men pick Mac up and throw him back onto the chair. They leave. John approaches the camera. "I'll let you be alone." He leaves. They are left to watch their boss; their friend slumped motionless on the chair, blood dripping from his head.

Danny speaks up. "Mac. Can you hear me?"

Nothing.

Stella becomes anxious. "Mac. Say something, please."

Again, nothing.

Flack turns to the rest of the team.

"We gotta do something now."

Stella prioritises. "Alright. Danny, see if Adam got any prints from the letter."

He nods. "I'm on it." He leaves hurriedly.

"Hawkes, see if you can't find where this video feed is coming from."

"Got it." He leaves also.

"Flack and Lindsey, check up on the tire tracks. See if there are any matches."

Lindsey nods. "What about you?"

Stella turns to the screen. "I'm going to stay with Mac."

As soon as they leave, the door opens and a box is brought into the dark room. John walks up to the camera.

"Now, the fun begins."

TBC


	3. Not That Broken

----

An hour passes. Mac is unconscious and lying in the corner completely covered with blood. The blindfold is still on and his hands are still tied behind his back. John throws a bloody set of pliers back into the box. He broke Mac's fingers. He turns to the camera. Stella, now in tears, can only watch.

"He will be with us until you find us. We will not kill him, but it is up to you how much pain he is going to feel. It could be too late. You're the CSI."

He walks over to Mac and drags him closer to the screen then sits on him mockingly. He looks at the camera.

Stella speaks for the first time in the hour.

"What you were doing was wrong. You were given specific orders. I had no choice, it's the law."

John gets slightly angry. He looks down at Mac and grabs his hair.

"You hear that Mac? It's the law."

"Don't touch him!"

He laughs. "What are you gonna do? Jump through the screen and shoot me?" He takes out his gun. "Come on Stella."

She gets angrier. "We're going to find you and put you and your men away."

Mac starts to slowly wake up. John smiles. "Ah, Mac. You're awake."

Mac coughs. The weight of John on his broken ribs makes it hard for him to breathe.

"...Get...off me."

John is taken that this broken body still has such resilience. He hits him across the temple with his gun.

Stella shouts. "Hey!"

Mac hears her voice. "...Stella?"

"It's alright Mac. I'm with you."

John smiles. "Touching. Really. But, I really have to get back to work. I have a lot to do."

He smiles down at Mac.

"...Yeah, well...so do I. So...*cough* stop...wasting my time."

John is furious. He stands up and points his gun down at Mac.

Stella screams. "No!"

BANG!

TBC


	4. Fairway

----

Flack and Lindsey are searching through the tire track database.

"We'll get 'em back."

Lindsey nods and smiles. She notices the screen.

"We got a match. It seems that these types of tires are very low in production."

Flack continues. "Only place that makes 'em, according to this, is 'Fairway League Tires'. They make special brand tires for large vehicles. "

"It's only fifteen minutes away."

"Let's go."

----

They arrive at the shop and approach an employee.

"N.Y.P.D. Is the owner around?"

"You're lookin' at 'em. I'm Mark Fowler."

"Mr. Fowler. We're looking for a recent buyer of Pirelli 185-75-16 brand tires. We understand that they're a new and specialised brand."

Flack hands him a photo of the tire marks. He looks at the photo a bit uneasily and back at the detectives. "Nah. They're too new. Nobody really knows about 'em."

Flack and Lindsey look at each other.

"Mind if we take a look at your computer, Mr. Fowler?"

He looks at them for a moment.

"If we have to, we can get a warrant."

He points. "It's over there."

"Thank you."

Lindsey types at the computer. After a while she looks up at Flack and smiles. She walks around the desk and looks at Mark.

"Here's the thing, Mr. Fowler. I know you're lying because the computer says that somebody placed an order last month and collected them a week ago."

He shifts a little.

Flack continues. "So, you wanna tell us who that was?"

"They said to keep it quiet. They seemed pretty major so I did what they said."

"Who?"

"The name he gave was Jack Smith."

Lindsey looks at Flack. "Obviously an alias."

"What did he look like?"

"Uh, he was a big guy. About 6 foot. Heavy set. Dark hair and dark eyes."

"Anything that made him stand out?"

"Uh...Oh, he had a scar on his forehead."

Flack realises. "That's John Phelps."

"Did he give you an address?"

"No. He collected the tires himself."

They look disappointed.

"Wait. He said he'd be comin' back on Friday for some new stock. Around noon."

Flack and Lindsey smile to each other.

"We got 'em, now."

Lindsey turns to Mark.

"Mr. Fowler. This man has taken one of our own. "

"Oh, man. Is he alright?"

Flack frowns. "No, he's not. We'll be back on Friday at around ten a.m. Until then, if you hear anything from this guy or anything unusual you call me."

He hands him his card.

"Yeah, sure. Anything I can do to help."

Lindsey smiles at him. "Thank you, Mr. Fowler."

----

"Son of a bitch!" John shouts at Mac who is on the ground breathing rapidly as the fresh bullet wound in his shoulder bleeds profusely.

Stella can't hold back her anger. "What do you expect Phelps!? He's an ex-marine. You just expect him to do what you say? He's smarter than that."

John is getting angrier. He steps on Mac's shoulder. Mac shouts in pain.

"How smart is he now? He's got a bullet in his shoulder!"

"He's smart enough not to give you what you want. Control."

John stares down at Mac silently, thinking. If Mac wasn't blindfolded, he would be staring right back.

"We'll see about that."

John picks up Mac with relative ease. He drags him to the centre of the room and unties his hands. The second he does, Mac manages to break free and swing at John. Despite Mac's fingers being broken, he connects. However, it does not matter. John swings his hand with tremendous force and smashes it into Mac's already bruised stomach. He falls to his knees and begins to cough up blood.

Stella screams at him. "Stop!"

John fastens the chains around Mac's wrists. He is now suspended on his knees.

John turns to face the camera.

"How long has it been Stella? Almost two days? For your sake, I hope your guys are working around the clock because at the rate this guy is pissin' me off..." he swings around and punches Mac in the temple, ".. It won't be long before he's unrecognisable. Me? I'm havin' the time of my life here."

He smiles as he wipes his mouth. "I'll leave you two alone."

He leaves, but does not close the door. The light from outside the dark room shines in at Mac, almost like John s framing his 'work'.

Stella moves close to the screen and rubs the image of Mac with her finger.

"Mac. Please tell me you can hear me."

A long pause is followed by an answer.

"St- I can."

"Thank God. I am so sorry, Mac."

She feels a lump in her throat and her eyes begin to sting.

"I'm sorry for everything."

"...*cough* Y-ou don- have t- apologise. I'd much pre-fer me in here...then you."

Tears are flowing down her cheeks now. "Just remember I'm here. I'm going to be right here until we get you back, okay? We're going to get through this together, Mac."

Mac nods.

Just then, Flack and Lindsey arrive in.

"He's awake? Mac, how you holdin' up?"

Mac shakily makes a thumbs- up with one of his broken, bound hands.

"Lookin' good, buddy. You'll be outta there in no time."

"N-no...rush."

They smile. Stella turns to Lindsey.

"What do you have?"

"We reached out to the owner of 'Fairway League Tires' and he said that John Phelps is coming to collect a fresh supply of tires on Friday at noon."

"Well, that's great." She looks at her watch. Lindsey nods and frowns.

"I know. It's only Wednesday."

Flack looks at Mac on the screen. "It's already been two days and look what he's done to him."

Stella nods. "It's Mac. If anyone can survive..." They all look at the screen.

"...He can."

TBC


	5. Behind The Blindfold

----

Danny is with Hawkes in the lab. Hawkes is trying to locate the video feed source. He turns to Danny.

"Anything from the envelope?"

"Nada. But I got traces of yeast on the note."

"Yeast? Could be from a bakery."

"There are over fifty bakeries in New York. That's even if he's in New York. Any luck with the video?"

"This is some sophisticated technology, but it's not impossible to trace." He points to the screen. "It seems that the signal from the video is transmitting from somewhere in Brooklyn."

"Alright, so we got a bakery in Brooklyn." Hawkes searches.

"There, we got five different bakeries in the Brooklyn area."

"Good, that narrows it down."

Danny heads towards Stella.

----

"A bakery in Brooklyn?"

"Found traces of yeast on the note. John must have been peckish when he was writin'. Hawkes narrowed down the signal location to somewhere in Brooklyn."

Hawkes arrives.

"Sid was examining the body again and he found this."

He holds up a small piece of green glass.

"It was embedded in the vic's foot."

"Wait a minute." They all look at Danny.

"When me and Aiden went out for drinks we used to go to this bar in Brooklyn called 'O Sullivan's'. It had green and red stained glass...and it was right across the street from a bakery."

----

Police sirens blare out. Four cop cars pull up outside the large bakery. It is abandoned. Flack and Lindsey are followed by eight S.W.A.T. guys. They stop outside the door.

Flack nods and one of the S.W.A.T. members' breaks down the door.

They all rush in. "N.Y.P.D!"

There is nobody there. They spread out and search the entire place.

Flack and Lindsey regroup. "It's empty."

Flack calls Stella.

"Stell, its Flack. He's not here."

"Dammit. Alright, head back."

Stella hangs up and looks at Mac.

He is facing the ground. He tries to move, but he just can't. He can feel his broken ribs whenever he breathes in. The pain is immense, but this ex-marine was trained for these situations, no matter how rare they may be. He wishes that the blindfold was gone so that he could help the team find him. He knows how hard this must be for Stella, knowing she would definitely feel it's her fault. However, Mac places no blame. He slowly raises his head when he hears the sound of women's heels coming from the screen. He wishes he could see her.

"Mac, do you have any idea where you are?"

"...No. Th-ey haven- taken...the blindfold off..."

"Ok. Well, have you heard any significant noises at all?"

"Nothin- My ears have been...ringin- for a while now. I haven't been able t- hear...properly for...hours."

Stella becomes even more concerned than before.

"Mac, how many times were you hit in the head?"

"Uh...I don-"

All of a sudden, John paces in with a large box.

He turns to Stella.

"I'm sick of playing around. Now, this is when I really want you to watch closely because you won't want to miss this."

He reaches into the box and takes out jumper cables and a blow torch.

Stella is speechless.

"Oh..my God."

TBC


	6. Keegan's

----

Lindsey, Flack, Danny and Hawkes come into the lab to see Stella sitting with her head in her hands crying. Flack puts his hands on her shoulders.

"Hey. You okay, Stell?"

Danny, Hawkes and Lindsey look up at the screen. Lindsey is horrified.

"Oh my –"

Mac is hanging from the chains on his knees. His black shirt is now barely intact and it is tinted in red. There are burns and blood all over his torso and face and he is not moving. John throws down the blow torch and turns to the camera.

"Sorry you guys missed it. Stella can fill you in."

He turns and leaves Mac alone.

Danny looks at Stella. "What did he do?"

Stella gathers herself. "They burned him, Danny. Then they shocked him." She shakes her head. "I had to leave because I couldn't take the screams."

Hawkes clenches his fists. "Animals."

Flack stands up and looks at his watch. "Look. It's only a matter of hours before we can get the son of a bitch at the tire shop. Mac can hold on for us."

Lindsey smiles. "Don's right. It's only a matter of time."

----

It is Friday. Flack, Danny and Lindsey are waiting inside Fairway League Tires for John to show up.

There is silence until the slowly door opens.

"Freeze!"

The man is shocked and tries to run, but the door remains shut and he is quickly tackled by Flack and Danny.

All of a sudden, Flack gets a phone call.

"Flack."

"Flack, it's Stell. Tell me somebody showed up..."

"Yeah. We got 'em right here. Why?"

"I'm lookin' at John right now on the screen."

Flack turns the man on the ground over. It's not John.

"Negative. It's not John, but that doesn't mean we can't question him, right?"

"Be back as soon as you can."

"Got it."

Flack picks up the man roughly and throws him into the police car.

----

"Hey, John!"

John turns around. "You say something Stella?"

"Yeah. We got your man. The tire shop."

John remains silent for a moment. "That...that is unfortunate...but it will not change a thing. He will not give up our location."

"You sure about that?"

----

"Where is he!?"

Flack and Danny pace around the table.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I am not in the mood for this, pal. Where's my guy?"

"You mean Detective Taylor? He's probably dead by now."

Flack is irate. He bangs his hands on the table.

"Tell me now or by God this will be the last face you'll ever see."

He turns his head and looks coldly at Don. "You can't save him, Detective. He is gone."

----

Stella and Lindsey watch the screen. Mac is still alone in the dark room.

"I can't believe this is happening."

Stella turns to her. "I know. It's a nightmare."

Lindsey looks at him.

"I remember when I first met him. I was so nervous. Danny told me to call him 'sir'", she laughs to herself. "... So that didn't help me at all. Then when I finally did get around to it, he told me not to." She smiles.

Stella smiles with her. She looks back at Mac. "He's the smartest and most selfless man I've ever known...My best friend."

Mac can't see or hear anything. He's barely able to breathe. Amazingly he is still conscious, but barely. Each breath requires a tremendous amount of energy, energy that he will soon run out of.

A big man comes into the room and puts a bottle on the table. He picks up the box and walks out with it.

Flack and Danny enter the lab.

"He 'aint talkin'."

Stella sees something.

"Freeze it. See that bottle? It's green, like the glass we found on our vic."

They all notice it. Lindsey moves closer. "What does it say on it?"

Flack can make it out. "Keegan's. That's Keegan's old brewery in Brooklyn."

Danny realises. "That's where the yeast came from. A brewery not a bakery."

"Let's go. We gotta move."

TBC


	7. Okay

----

Police sirens ring through Brooklyn. Flack, Danny, Lindsey and Stella reach the brewery. They enter the huge wooden door into a dark corridor. They cautiously walk through the huge dark, eery container room then they reach a stop and two different corridors.

Stella takes command.

"Split up. Flack and Danny go left. Lindsey, you're with me."

"Got it."

Flack and Danny continue down the long passage way until they reach a large door. They stop. Flack nods and after 3, they burst in.

"Freeze. N.Y.P.D!"

John and the two larger men are sitting around a table. They put their hands up as there are no weapons they can use to retaliate.

"Don't you move!"

John smiles and chuckles defeatedly.

"Alright. You win, Detective."

Stella and Lindsey continue in the opposite direction. They also reach a large wooden door.

"You ready?"

Stella nods.

They burst through the door causing light from the corridor to shine through. They see a man lying in the corner.

"Mac!"

They run over to him. He is facing towards the wall and his hands are tied behind his back. They untie his hands and turn him over. The sudden increase in light causes him to raise a shaky hand over his eyes.

Stella reaches to him, but he flinches.

"It's alright, Mac. It's Stell."

"...St-?"

"Yes. You're safe now."

She notices he's trembling and freezing cold, despite being soaked in sweat and blood. Mac rests his head on Stella's hand. She smiles.

Danny can be heard calling out. "Lindsey?! Stella?!"

Lindsey replies. "In here. We got him!"

Flack and Danny run in. "We got John. My guys are bringin' 'em in now."

He sees Mac and approaches. He doesn't know what to say. He's never seen his boss, more importantly his friend, in this state before.

He then turns around and talks into his walkie. "We need an ambulance right now. Keegan's Brewery. Officer down. Repeat. Officer down."

Danny looks down. "Hey, boss. You alright?"

Mac tries to answer, but he can't speak. Instead, he coughs up blood.

Stella rubs his hair. "Don't try to speak, Mac. We're gonna get you home, okay?"

Mac manages to make a full word for the first time in days.

"Okay."

----

Stella, Lindsey, Flack, Danny and Hawkes are in the hospital waiting for the doctor. They've been there for a few hours now. Danny is walking up and down the hall, Flack is leaning against the wall, Hawkes is sitting beside Stella and Lindsey.

Nobody says a word.

The doctor enters the hall. Everybody stands up.

"Well?"

"Mr. Taylor has suffered a great deal of trauma, both internal and external. We examined him and on the surface he appears to have severe bruising around his abdomen and back. He has a large number of burns and lacerations on his torso. He has a number of marks on his temple resulting from blunt force trauma, thankfully not enough to cause any major damage."

Hawkes shifts a little. "How is he on the inside?"

"We've discovered five broken ribs, a severely bruised kidney, both of his ankles are shattered along with his left wrist..."

Stella and Lindsey can't believe it.

"...his right arm is broken, four of his back teeth are missing and he suffered quite a bad concussion."

There is silence for a moment.

Danny breaks it. "Well is he gonna be okay?"

"Due to his weakened state on arrival, he was finding it difficult to breathe on his own. We've put him on a ventilator for now, but we are optimistic that he will be off it in the next week or two. He's really fighting."

Everybody smiles.

"Thanks, doc." Danny pats him on the shoulder.

Flack asks. "When can we see him?"

"We must insist that you give Mr. Taylor a few days to rest on his own."

Stella nods hesitantly, but understandably.

The team reluctantly agrees to leave without seeing Mac.

The next few days are going to be tough.

TBC


	8. So Much More

----

Beep...Beep...Beep

Darkness turns into blurry images. An image of a woman. He feels her warm breath on his face. He can almost make her out. There she is, Stella.

"Hey, Mac."

It takes him a few minutes to come around.

"...Hey."

"You gave us quite a scare."

"...Ah, you know me."

The tone changes.

"I'm sorry, Mac. If I hadn't exposed those men this wouldn't have happened."

"...If you hadn't exposed them they'd still be out there torturing innocent people."

Stella nods and smiles. Mac rests his hand against her face.

"...I'm glad you're here."

Stella reaches down to hug him. Despite having good intentions, this gesture causes a small amount of pain. Mac just smiles and embraces her.

"Just doing what you would do. Looking out for each other."

They both smile at one another.

Just then, in walk Danny, Flack, Hawkes and Lindsey.

"There he is." Danny points at him and smiles.

"Hey, Mac. Feeling better?" asks Hawkes.

"...Moderately." He smiles.

Flack pats him on the shoulder. "I gotta tell you, this is the last time I let this guy wander off by himself, huh?"

Everybody laughs.

Lindsey smiles at him.

"Great to have you back, Mac."

"...Thanks guys."

The team nod as they hear Mac thank them for being there with him, but they should know that it is for so much more.

----

THE END


End file.
